MF: SOUR, SOUR, SOUR! Wonderfully sour. Blistering astringency. Thin body, much much too thin for any style but the wonderful sourness is so refreshing. If this beer was marketed as a black lambic it would be much more highly received.

D: Slightly above average.

As a milk stout this is the worst I have ever had, but as a beer I just love it. It has so many of the characteristics that I find charming and addicting in lambics, gauzes, and winter saisons. Absolutely unique and innovative.

The first thing that hits me is fruit bouquet, then herbal hop ushers in phenols. There is a sourness I find off-putting and tobacco in the finish. Good if you don't think of it as stout. Awesome with lamb. This stuff is definately different. Mouthfeel gets points off for stinging.

Notes: Kiuchi Brewery produces some outstanding beers, but this is not one of them. There's nothing "sweet" about this beer. It's horribly balanced and the use of lacto in this beer is abusive and overwhelming to the point of making it nearly undrinkable.

A shade or two from total black in colour, nice looking foamy tan lace holds to the side of the glass in the beginning.

Smells slightly astringent with a light tartness from the roasted malts … hint of dark caramel and lacto sugar also.

Crisp with a viscous smoothness from the full body and sturdy carbonation. A little tartness from the roasted malts, acrid in a way with some astringency. Some creamy sweetness from the lacto sugar in not enough to balance and the astringent roasted maltiness encroaches on the palate even more. Finishes with the residual lacto sugar sweetness and a fading roasted character.

If it was not for the addition of lacto sugar this brew would be nearly undrinkable. This is a beer to sip with a hearty meal and perhaps too full of a brew that you would want as a session style beer. Not a bad stab at the style.

11.2 oz bottle with a cute owl on the cap, as well as the label. Pours into a pint tumbler like a light bodied porter, but is very opaque black chestnut in the glass. Not much of a head, but it leaves some cocoa ring lace and a similar oil slick on top.
Aroma is Japanese? Sour cream is not what I was expecting from anybody's stout, but it's here and combines with coca cola, coffee, and bittersweet chocolate flavors to provide a drinkable and challenging experience. It's light bodied for a stout, and has respectable components of dark roasted malts and chocolate notes to overpower the scalded milk notes. A very interesting brew, indeed. If you enjoy chocolate on your cottage cheese, you will definitely like this stout. I'm awarding it a 5.0 for Peculiarity. Not for the squeamish.

This beer definitely requires an acquired taste. It was not especially suited to my normal beer taste, but I was curious so I went ahead and tried it. It was served to me in the bottle which I poured into the glass.

It has a sour milk smell. The smell could also be compared to that of sourdough bread. It pours a very dark, deep brown, completely opaque. The head dissapates quickly leaving some light lacing as it is drunk. The taste is very sour which can make it difficult to drink if you are not used to or don't particularly care for this taste. It is flat with no carbonation.

I think there are better beers of this particular style. This is one that is worth a taste but I doubt I will try it again.

Thanks to fitzIPAtrick and growler for having this brew on hand.
Pours a pitch black with two full fingers of cocoa-colored head...very thin producing little lace.
Smell is decent...some dark chocolate, a touch of vanilla, and sweet malt in the mix, with some carbonation in the nose.
The taste is enjoyable enough...mild in flavor with mainly chocolate and a sweet vineous character finishing it off.
Mouthfeel is thin and the carbonation is high...either way, it is a decent offering with a bit too much carbonation to consume easily. It is a sipper and gets much better as it warms.
A nice warm up to the evening...

Mouthfeel: light bodied, sweet, some sourness which does not work with the style, high carbonation

Drinkability: I am not a fan and will pass on in the future. The sourness is a bit too overbearing for the style. When you mix that with the background sugar sweetness, the beer does not work. Way different for the style-not bad if you want just to try a sour beer.

The beer pours a brown color with a cream-colored head. The aroma is heavy on the cream, with some lactose, chocolate and roasted malt mixed in. There is also a slight medicinal aroma which I am not really caring for. The flavor is more straightforward, with the basic characteristics of cream, lactose and chocolate. Medium mouthfeel and medium carbonation.

A: Nice dark body. Head is light khaki and thin. Not quite as heady as some.S: Sweet and slightly grainy. Smells good.T: Sweetness comes through on middle and back of tongue. Interesting dryness to the tip of the tongue. Not overdone, which I think adds to the drinkability.M: A little thin, which I was not prepared for with the added lactose. A little fuller of a feel on the tongue would add to this beer.D: Easy drinker. I definitely could have more than one. Thankfully it is low in alcohol, so that won't be a problem.

I have to say up-front that, compared to the other reviews of this beer, I suspect I have a sour bottle. Still, the review stands - if Kiuchi is going to ship sour beer, then I'll review the sour beer.

The appearance is *very* dark, with a tiny brown head that fades before you can put down the bottle. The nose is of the brine from green olives -- seriously! The taste is similar, dominated by a sourness and I could swear a bit of saltiness. I can barely make out some burnt maltiness.

I'm a fan of sweet stouts for their almost syrupy texture. This beer doesn't have any of that - it's very thin. This is consistent with a soured batch, as lots of critters other than S. Cervesiae will happily devour lactose.

I'm not sure I'll finish this bottle, and I'm certainly not tempted to buy another, so I can't give it anything above "Awful" in the drinkability category.

Pours a deep ruby brown almost opaque, with a moccha highly carbonated fizzy two fingered head, and from my pour is leaving no lace at all. The aroma is a sharp slightly acidic sweetness, this is my first time grappling with a milk or cream stout so here it goes. Underneath of the harsh sourness are light coffe tones and dark chocolate from the dark roasted barley malt. The flavor at first seems a bit offensive from the rush of acidity, but I think it's growing on me after my fourth sip a little. The light flavors in the background from the dark roasted malts are definitely overshadowed from the sourness in the flavor creating an unbalance that doesn't form a happy experience with me. Nice to try a stout from a Japan micro, but I will try the Hitachino Nest wit and wheat before I count them off as bad brewers. The overall mouthfeel is a bit thin for this lucious style of a stout, and I just can't get down with this beer on any level. Drinkability is low due to the fact that the sourness overbears the rest of the characteristics of the beer therefore ruining the pleasures this beer has to offer.

330 ml stubby bottle served in a pint glass. Some dark sediment remaining in the bottom of the glass added mid-tasting.

Pours an opaque near-black with a creamy tan head. Head dies down soon but leaves a lasting ring and partial top coat.

The aroma is not as expected, being a bit weak, not particularly sweet, and with a quality suggestive of teriyaki sauce and certainly not that of a typical stout. Aroma suggests a higher ABV than 4%.

The taste too was different than expected, wither based on style or aroma. Most notably, although not bitter this "Sweet Stout" is not sweet. In fact, it has a nice hop balance that is unusual for style and suggestive of a West Coast stout. Some chocolate initially followed by some coffee and teriyaki sauce in the finish. Rating leans towards 3.5.

The mouthfeel is a little bit thin and astringent for style (detriments), as well as crisper and more lively (not a detriment IMO). Semi-dry finish.

This beer pours a very dark brown with a thin light brown head. The head fades quickle, leavinga good lacing.

This beer has a malty sweet aroma. I can desect a slight coffee smell. It has a little nutty presence also. Maybe just a hint of chocolate in there also.

This beer has a light coffee like taste. It has trace flavors of chocolate. It is also pretty sweet. It has a slight flavor of half and half. The kind from McDonalds when it is a little warm.

This beer is carbonated well. It has a creamy texture to it. It goes down smooth, leaving a creamy half and half like aftertaste.

This beer would probably be a good session beer. It is very low in alcohol, so that definately wouldnt be a problem. Also, the flavor is not offensive or overbearing. I think this beer is pretty good. The half and half flavor took a little while to get used to, but not I kind of like it.

A- This beer has a opaque dark brown body with a tan head that is thick and creamy but sounds a bit like soda pop when pouring. The head settles to a thin layer after a bit.

S- The smell of dark roasted malt and grain has a very nutty almost hazelnut aroma to it. There is some earthiness to the roast and it is a light aroma.

T- This beer has a faint nutty flavor and instant coffee (but in a positive way) accent to the malt flavor. There is a strong milk flavor to the malt aswell. There is no real hop finish but a note of dry carbonic bite balances the malts.

M- This beer has a medium mouthfeel with a creamy texture that makes the mouthfeel more full. No astringency or alcohol warmth.

D- I would call this a Japanese stout. Its flavors remind me of the taste of traditional Japanese cuisine. Very soft subtle flavors yet complex and interesting at the same time. There are nuances that are good flavors but hard to describe. Nice beer that is subtle, yet mysteriously interesting.

This review is from my notes of a previous tasting. I'm entering it because I've entered a number of very favorble reviews, and believe it's important to also include reviews of brews that "aren't so hot."
This beer has a reasonably nice appearance. Deep brown, though too light for a stout. Weak head vanished immediately, with no lace to speak of.
Aroma is acidic and overwhelmed by an extremely earthy, mineral and "spoiled milk" nose.
Taste: compared to a Mackeson's, Sam Adams CS or St. Peter's CS, the lacto factor is way, WAY out of balance for me. Extremely earthy (dirt), and an almost stinging acidity. I've traveled quite extensively in the far east, and so I tried very hard to be sensitive to cultural differences in "taste" in this review, but it's hard for me to believe this is something the masses anywhere are clamoring for.
Mouthfeel is way too thin and watery for a stout.
Drinkability: I'm sorry to say I finally poured this beer out (I do that maybe once a year, tops). I gave this tasting numerous chances, letting it warm up, etc... but for my taste, this brew is nearly offensive.

330ml stubby, with that hypno-owl staring straight out from the label.

This beer pours a solid black 'hue', with no edges or highlights, and one finger of thin creamy beige head, which leaves a low ring of lace around the glass in its hasty departure. It smells of faint roasted caramel malt, and sour milk. The taste is chocolate, coffee, and a milder version of the sour milk from the aroma. The carbonation is quite low, the body quite light and thin, but still coming up smooth and creamy somehow. It finishes quite plainly, on a drying note.

At first whiff, I was expecting the worst. However, the sourness, presumably from the lactose, settles down for the most part. What's left is indeed sweet and milky, but without a whole lot else in term of actual flavour. Not worth seeking out.

Lacto is very dark brown in color and the tan colored head settles almost immediately. It basically looks like a flat coke.

Aroma is sweet and full of roasty malt. This part seems just right for the style.

Flavor is a bit odd. At first it seems like a very light porter. Given it's dark color, I was expecting much more in the chocolate malts flavor but it's so mild. Milk stouts usually are, I understand, but this one is even more so. Then the weird part - it tastes like someone squirted a little lemon juice in there before bottling. It comes through right on the finish of each sip but it's a strange (off?) flavor that I wasn't expecting.

Mouthfeel is lighter than most stouts with a effervescence that seems wrong for the style. Finishes sweet so I doubt it was a champagne yeast but that's what the mouthfeel is telling me.

Overall this is a confused and confusing beer. It's probably worth a try but, given the price, I would never buy it again.

Pours a fudge-like black, which is wonderful, but that head just looks weird: some of the biggest bubbles I've seen on any beer's cap, kind of like sea-foam. Really interesting.

Aroma is quite sweet, reminds me of chocolate/peanut butter cupcake frosting. Anise pushes through in the background. Also pretty yeast-laden. As with the look, it's certainly a bit different.

Tastes like watery chocolate milk, with caramel and toffee limping up to the front for attention. Cheap chocolate lingers in the finish. Kind of plastic-y overall. Something about it I liked, probably the sweetness, which was obviously a little more upfront than your usual stout, but generally it's a little weird, and that "texture"...

The mouthfeel is revolting--for a stout. Carbonation is crisp to the point of having an almost numbing effect on the tongue, while the body itself is watery. I can't imagine wanting this texture in any kind of beer style, but especially not a stout of any sort.

Not good. I'm amazed this is by the same brewery responsible for the completely wonderful Celebration ale. I'll keep trying Hitachino stuff--so far they've got one truly great beer, one so-so beer (Red Rice ale) and this thing.